Zero's Dilemma
by BloodBoredom
Summary: Set a few years after X8, Zero and Layer are working on a mission when ghosts from Zero's past return to haunt him. Can Hunter and Navigator uncover a plot made by Mavericks without Sigma's virus? Will X's dream of Neo Arcadia be realized? *Characters from Command Mission are slated to appear after the intro chapters
1. Chapter 1

_-Zero's Dilemma-  
_

_The maverick hunter known as Zero was a combat oriented fighting machine, leaving most of the negotiations to his partners, X and Axl, this day however, he was on his own in the field.  
_

_*Static*_

_"Zero, can you hear me?" a voice buzzed in the crimson warrior's ear._

"Loud and clear Layer," Zero replied while surveying his surroundings.

_"Alright, the facility ahead is holding the converter module from RayTech Laboratories in the deeper areas," Layer informed._

"Gotcha," the Hunter slowly made his way towards the facility, "recovering stolen tech isn't really our thing y'know."

_"Yes, but RayTech is one of our suppliers/sponsors so we don't have much of a say," the purple haired navigator consoled the warrior._

"I hate bureaucracy," Zero groaned as he ambushed a Maverick sentry guard.

_*Crackle*_

_A buzzing sound echoed subtly in the air as an opposing mechanical figure was split in half.  
_

_"Why do they even bother?" Layer sighed.  
_

"Dunno," the red warrior shrugged, "still, it keeps me awake."

_"*Sigh* This is gonna take some time huh?" the purple haired navigator whined._

"Looks like it," Zero said as he entered the main door, "get some rest, I'll just buzz you when I get lost."

_"Very funny Zero," Layer said with snark._

"I'm serious, if Mavericks didn't put elaborate floor design and traps, I'd have cleaned them all out a long, long time ago," the red warrior complained, "Heck, if X and Axl didn't partner up with me back in the Elevator Incident, I'd still be stuck in that Gravity Lab."

_"Not buying it," the Navigator teased._

"Suit yourself, " Zero surrendered, "couldn't have made it this far without you either."

_"..."_

"Layer?" the Hunter paused as he prepared to smash two Mavericks, head first, to one another.

_"Thanks," the purple-haired woman blushed, but she was thankful that Zero could only hear her voice._

"Thought I lost connection back there," Zero joked as he resumed bashing both Mavericks' heads into one another.

_"You're not getting rid of me that easily," the woman tried to keep calm._

"Not really trying for that one," the red warrior smiled.

_"!" Layer gazed at a newly opened screen, "Zero!"_

"Whoa, little to loud," the Hunter grabbed his helmet by the receiver of his comm unit, "what is it?"

_"The doors from the floor above you are being sealed, you won't be able to get in," the Navigator warned._

"Not good," Zero started dashing towards the supposed entrance.

_The Hunter only made it in time to see the door close, after multiple sabre slashes, Zero concluded that the seal was unbreakable._

"They have really gotten better with level design," the red warrior complained.

_"I'm going to send you some support," the purple-haired woman informed the Hunter._

"We can't exactly have an airstrike in here right?" Zero contemplated.

_"Not what I meant," Layer clarified._

"Okay?" the Hunter shot a confused look.

_"Just stay in place for a few minutes while a get a lock on your coordinates," the Navigator ordered._

"Got it," the red Hunter replied as he began to sit.

_...3 minutes later..._

_*Footsteps*_

_...1 minute later..._

_*Marching*_

"Layer?" Zero asked for his Navigator's attention.

_"I'm almost done Zero," the woman said as she continued typing in data._

"Can you tell me exactly what this facility was holding besides the converter module?" the red warrior was worried.

_"Let me see," the Navigator began scanning through some old files, "it was used as the storage site for the decommissioned Repliforce, why do you ask?"_

"Well, I think they aren't so decommissioned anymore," the Hunter replied.

_As Zero turned his gaze, the Hunter found hundreds of eyes, vengeful eyes gazing straight at him. He remembered quite well, Zero knew the design, the emblem, and one familiar face in the crowd._

"Zero..." a unique Reploid stood in front of the crowd.

_"Zero I've got a lock," Layer informed him, "assistance will arrive momentarily."_

_"Roger that," Zero sent mentally._

"It has been so long!" the Reploid continued.

"Yeah, it has," the red warrior replied, "Captain."

"So glad you remember because tonight, Repliforce is gonna take you down!" the Captain roared.

_The joint Repliforce units cheered on their leader._

"We don't have to do this!" the Hunter explained,"Repliforce was being manipulated by Sigma, General even gave his life to stop the Final Weapon!"

"Even so," the Captain answered, "our code of honor won't allow us to leave things as is."

"Everyone, Sigma is gone, you have no more Mavericks to fight," Zero tried negotiating, "we can have you join the Maverick Hunters to wipe your slates clean."

_The soldiers were silent, some were contemplating the offer, others were waiting for their comrades' reply._

"All right," Captain replied, "those of you who wish to join the Hunters, lay down your weapons and walk away, we won't hold it against you."

_A little under half of the units dropped their weapons and quietly left the facility, planning to march towards Hunter HQ as a sign of their solidarity._

"Captain..." the red warrior hesitated.

"All units," the Repliforce officer raised his hand, "CHAAARGE!"

_All the remaining Repliforce soldiers made a dash for the lone opponent and began firing in perfectly choreographed synchronicity, putting pressure on the master swordsman._

"RAAAH!" Zero charged those who fought with powered armor at close range.

*Swoosh*

_One armor fell, the soldier inside took his sidearm and jumped out, guns blazing._

*Buzz*

_The soldier fell quickly to the ground._

*Boom*_  
_

_A mortar shell exploded near Zero's feet._

*Daka-daka-daka*

_Machine gun fire followed the mortar sounds. _

*Snap*

_The hunter broke another soldier's neck._

*Crackle*

_A swift saber strike to a grenadier who got too far._

*Pop*

_A shoryuuken propelled a gunner's head up high._

"You can't keep this up forever Zero!" the Captain yelled as he fired his bazooka.

"Boy, I'm just giving you guys a chance to surrender whenever you want to," the Hunter boasted,"if I was planning on taking you down, this would have ended a long time back."

"Hmph," Captain smirked, "that so?"

_Energy beams headed straight for Zero, but the agile warrior evaded them all, too narrow for his comfort though._

"!" Zero gazed at the source of the shots.

_A ride armor corps armed with energy blades and cannons with missiles on the side._

"Storm Owl's advanced unit that was supposed to be released a week after you and X finished him," Captain explained.

*Swoosh*

_An energy cannon was cut apart while firing, causing an explosion that destroyed the Ride and damaged two of its comrades._

*Dent*

_A fist-shaped mark appeared in another Ride's torso, destroying both Ride and pilot._

"What..." Captain stood flabbergasted.

"...was that?" Zero finished the Captain's sentence with a slight smile knowing who attacked the Rides, "Although it pains me to fight you guys, I won't hesitate to strike you down."

"And neither will I," a feminine voice spoke after downing a unit with a glaive.

"You think both of you can take down all of us?" Captain spat out, "Think Again!"

_A commander type Ride Armor was deployed from the shadows, armed with cannons, blades(energy and solid), grenades, missiles, a chest-mounted laser, high speed flight ability and leather seats for comfort._

__"..." Hunter and Navigator stood back to back, surrounded by the units who rallied under their leader.

"Unison attack?" Layer asked with a small grin.

"..." Zero nodded with another smile.

_Both swords were drawn..._

__*Swoosh*

*Swipe*

*Clang*

*Boom*

_...And the battle was over._

_End Chapter 1.  
_


	2. Recovery

_-Zero's Dilemma-_

_The Captain's Allegiance...  
_

_The Captain, one of Repliforce's elite commanders, individually capable of downing fifty soldiers with little more than a sidearm and their bare hands, was being cornered despite having numerical, tactical, and technological superiority. The Repliforce had a code for this, a Dangerous Anomaly, or in layman's terms, a ridiculously competent, walking, death machine.  
_

"Impossible!" Captain cried in disbelief, firing all available weapons on his Ride Armor.

_The battered and broken bodies of his men lay flat...and scattered across the floor._

"I'd like to think otherwise Cap," Zero retorted, slowly walking towards the Repliforce commander with his Saber extended.

"I agree," Layer followed, "it's really a shame to have to fight like this, didn't you also take an oath to fight Mavericks?"

"..." Captain halted his weapons systems and landed his ride armor in front of Zero.

"See, that wasn't so ha-," a sharp pain throbbed in Zero's chest, "Wha-?"

_A 4-foot long energy blade from the Ride Armor was locked into the Maverick Hunter's chest._

"Sorry Zero," the Captain said apologetically, "but my new commander will give me my revenge."

"I'll kill you," a soft voice said from behind, "with my own hands!"

_Layer discarded her saber and rushed at the Captain with a savage ferocity._

"Tch, just because you dealt with my men does not mean that you could deal with me," Captain shot back, "and without Zero, you have no chance of getting out of this unscathed."

_The Captain activated his blaster cannon on the left and fired it at full power._

_*BOOM!*  
_

_The wall before the Repliforce leader was reduced to dust.  
_

"That all you've got?" the purple-haired Navigator challenged.

_Layer stood fist to face with the Captain._

"How did you-?" the reploid said irritated, "Gah!"

_Layer's punch knocked the veteran soldier seven feet away._

"Zero was the one who taught me," the Navigator said calmly.

"It's not enough huh? Dammit," the Captain cursed, "until next time then."

_With a devilish grin, the Captain teleported away._

"He got away..." Layer whispered, "Zero!"

_The red hunter was laying face first on the facility floor._

"I'm okay...mostly," the swordsman answered his Navigator as he clutched his sides, "that converter thing still in here?"

"Y-yes, it should still be straight ah-," the woman was cut off by a large explosion.

_The facility was now displaying a wonderful view of the night sky, courtesy of a large explosion from within, Hunter and Navigator acknowledging the futility of continuing the search for the converter.  
_

"Mission not accomplished," Zero sighed, "ow..."

"We need to get you back to base," Layer said with a commanding tone.

"But we could find a few clues before..." the Hunter attempted to resist.

"...no buts, we can leave that to the investigation teams," the Navigator countered, "do you have any idea how many Hunters it would take to do your workload?"

"..." the red warrior conceded, "All right then, beam us up."

_The two were then engulfed in a bright light and vanished._

_...Maverick Hunter HQ...  
_

_-Infirmary-  
_

_Ever since the Sigma Virus had been transported to the moon, the infirmary had been mostly empty, while this relieved some of the staff due to the excess workload in the past, it made them feel lax, so to their delight, at Zero's expense, one of the greatest Hunters popped in for treatment.  
_

"Commander Zero," a medical reploid reported, "you've sustained some grave injuries, we're gonna run a few tests to see the extent of the damage."

"Meh, I've been through worse," Zero shrugged.

"Sir, the blade seems to have blown through both your armor and some of your important circuitry," the medic analyzed.

"I could tell that much with a fist-sized hole in my chest," the Hunter joked.

"Well, the problem sir is that your design being unique and a-all," the doctor fidgeted, "we're running low on your spares, in fact, we've been refurbishing some of your damaged armor with more modern materials and procedures."

"Whaddaya mean by that?" Zero said gravely.

"We can repair the damage, but you're gonna have to be more careful with your health because we just can't keep coming up with spares anymore, the end of the Sigma Virus really put a lot of arms manufacturers out of business," the medic answered.

_The medic left Zero to rest, but the veteran Hunter was in a trance, counting the years that had gone by._

"Looks like they don't need me anymore huh?" the red Hunter asked himself.

_"Must be some reason they don't make spare parts for me anymore," Zero worried.  
_

_"I'm not like X," the swordsman mused, "I don't have his level of adaptability, he can fit any parts in this day and age, I've always had to keep my own shelf in R&D."  
_

*Door Opens*

"Hey Zero, you okay?" a familiar voice inquired.

"X?" the infirm Hunter snapped back to attention, "What're you doing out here?"

"Axl wanted to come too y'know," X explained, "good excuse to get off of paperwork for everyone y'know."

"That slacker," Zero realized that he hadn't seen Axl in days, "where is he anyway?"

"Hunter Base sent him to Giga City," the blue Hunter smiled as he remembered the old team, "help establish an outpost there and deputize some familiar faces."

"You mean Massimo right?" the red Hunter laughed, "'cuz I don't see the Hunters looking forward to Marino's record being dragged into the picture."

"Hey, we haven't visited the gang in a while, she might've had a change of heart," X was quick to defend the thief.

"You're probably right though, Cinnamon is practically a good influence on her," Zero replied with snark.

"Haha, great to see that you're in a mood for telling jokes," the veteran Hunter laughed at his partner.

"Hmmm," the blonde Hunter was lost in thought.

"..." X squinted his eyes, "Something's been bothering you Zero, I can tell."

"It's my armor, Doc says that they're running out of spares," the red swordsman replied, "next I'll be out of spare parts and be relegated to a desk job, if I'm lucky."

"C'mon Zero, we'll find a way through this, I'll have Alia get in touch with one of her old contacts, or maybe Professor Gaudile's Lab in Giga City," the blue-clad hunter countered.

"I sure hope so," Zero sighed.

_-X leaves the room-_

"X?" a purple-haired reploid called the commander's attention, "How is he?"

"Hey Layer," X waved at the navigator, "he's fine physically, but he's broken up about how 'outdated' he's starting to feel since we're running out of his spares."

"Oh my..." the swordswoman was stunned, ",but you don't have that problem X and you've been in operation almost as long as Zero has."

"Thing is," the blue bomber began, "Dr. Light built me up to be highly adaptable physically, Zero's creator designed him to have adaptability in the form of an advanced learning program, even better than my own. "

"..." Layer listened to the lecture attentively.

"Don't get me wrong though," X backtracked a bit, "Zero can copy enemy abilities into his software like I can, but not to my extent, whereas I can copy some of their attacks, but not within Zero's level of 'choreography'."

"I see," the woman placed a hand under her chin, "thank you for your time X."

"No trouble at all Layer," the veteran Hunter smiled, "where you heading out to now Layer?"

"I'm off to make a call to RayTech," the Navigator replied confidently.

_-End-_

__AN: So, this is the 2nd chapter, hoping for some reviews, it is a rather underused pairing, and I started it because I realize that I haven't seen a new release for a Mega Man game in a while. Anyway, I have around two more intro chapters to write before I can kick start the main story.


	3. Chapter 3

_-Zero's Dilemma-_

_-Legal Action like a Boss-  
_

_The members of Hunter Base were quite shocked at what they were witnessing, or at the very least overhearing. Even the new members from the Repliforce felt like they were being ordered around by the General himself.  
_

_RayTech, sponsor of the Maverick Hunter's post-Sigma technology, was being threatened with a lawsuit...  
_

_By Layer.  
_

"Well I'd like to think that some people don't appreciate finding out that a company that primarily makes toasters and microwaves got one of their most celebrated heroes close to being decommissioned just to get back some stolen tech," the Navigator threatened the Board of Directors.

"Ma'am," an elderly human stood up, "no disrespect, but you can hardly make any of your claims stick and if word gets out, we'll take _you _to court for defamation."

"Actually," Layer pressed a few buttons on her console, sending a file to the Board, "I do have evidence of your facility being raided along with confirmation that the item in question was there."

"Look here you synthetic bitch!" a younger board member said in a fury, "The world doesn't need your kind running around to police it anymore, so what, the guy beat Sigma, we'll send him a Christmas card or whatever, point is, without Maverick's what do you people have left to hunt."

"_Daniel!_"the head of the board, a man in his 60's, chastised the younger man, "Very well Miss Navigator, RayTech will look take responsibility for this incident, it was in fact our fault for putting him in that position."

"Thank you for you time sir," with a curt nod, Layer shut down the comm. link.

_-Outside-_

_Time had slowly resumed for the workers at the base, some still fixated at the rather heated debate in the communications room.  
_

*_Door Opens_*

_Layer calmly and quietly walks towards her post._

"Damn," a familiar blue Hunter admitted in shook.

_The rest of the crew agreed with a nod before resuming their duties._

_-Infirmary-  
_

_A rather bored red-clad Hunter was laying his head back as he flipped the channels on the room's Television.  
_

"I've seen this episode seven times already!" Zero threw the remote back and started thinking about what to do, "How is that even possible?"

_The swordsman began thinking deeply before an idea popped into his mind._

"Hey Comm. Room," the Hunter held a hand against his helmet.

"Yes sir!" the attendant answered snappily.

"Could you link me up to Axl?" Zero requested.

"Right away sir!" the comm. room worker began tapping at a digital keyboard to link the Hunter's up.

_-Giga City-_

_A familiar gunslinging reploid was chatting with a blonde nurse at what appeared to be a research center._

"So the Professor is letting you go in and out of the city now?" the new generation reploid with orange hair inquired, "That's great Cinnamon!"

"Yeah, my father is less of a recluse now and he's still mellowing out," the cheerful girl answered with a smile, "I'd still have to be chaperoned by Marino or Massimo whenever I go farther than the old base."

"So, take what you can get," the Hunter smirked.

_*Ring*_

"Wait a sec Cinnamon, someone's trying to call me," Axl held his hand over the side of his helmet to answer the call.

"Hey Axl!" a familiar and unusually bored sounding Zero said condescendingly.

"Z-Zero!?" the new generation reploid leaped in shock, "w-what's this about?"

"Y'know I can track you right?" the voice said smugly.

"Of course, and as you know, I'm working on the tower here as our new Hunter outpost," the youngest member of the Hunter's big three said proudly.

"Really?" doubt filled the red reploids voice, "'coz Nana intercepted the call to ask about how X and I are doing and I seem to recall something about you slaking off with Cinnamon..."

"Hey Zero!" the nurse Reploid joined the conversation.

"Nice to hear a familiar voice from Giga City," Zero said cheekily.

"So watcha been doing over there anyway?" Cinnamon asked.

"Meh, there really aren't that many problems anymore since the Cadre so we've just been gathering dust while waiting for something new," the swordsman sighed.

"You should appreciate the peace that you fought for Zero," the nurse scolded the elder Hunter.

"You kinda do at the start, but it gets old fast," the Hunter ended with a chuckle, "so Axl got you deputized huh?"

"Yup, me, my dad, Massimo, Nana, and even Marino signed up," the girl answered, her face beaming with pride.

"Good to see the old team being so eager," Zero admitted, "might stop by sometime when I've got less paperwork to file."

"Okay Zero, I should tell you though, Marino's been looking for a way to blow off some steam since she can't do what she used to anymore," Cinnamon sounded a little scared.

"Aw c'mon Cinnamon, Marino might have the speed, but Zero's got _years _of experience under his belt," Axl interrupted.

"Hey Axl, Marino's been working on her fighting since then, she's changed, a lot y'know," the blonde Reploid defended her friend.

"Well, Zero's been picking up moves like there was no tomorrow and he's started learning how to fight with _nunchucks!_" the trigger happy Reploid began sounding like a kid in an argument.

"Hey, you shouldn't believe all the rumors you hear around the base Axl!" Zero scolded his friend.

"Sorry Zero, got a little carried away back there," the new generation Reploid apologized.

"Besides, I figured nunchucks out months ago," the red swordsman replied, "I'll leave you two back to your date now."

"Hey, we aren't on a d-" Axl was cut off by a long beep ringing in his ear, "Zero!"

_Unbeknownst to the new generation Reploid, the nurse beside him was beginning to turn red._

_-2 weeks Later at Maverick Hunter HQ-  
_

_Zero still hadn't gotten over his 'spare parts' issue and began loitering around the base, which didn't go unnoticed by the staff. Thankfully, he was still being a productive member of the group and decided to help with the technicians and even picked up a few basics from the Engineers on hand. The Repliforce troops on the other hand, were still being refitted to compensate for the technological gap since their hibernation. The human members of the group were heading to the cafeteria for lunch.  
_

"Been a while since I've seen the _Grapearls_," Zero rubbed his chin, heading to the cafeteria for some quiet.

_The Grapearls were the human side of the Maverick Hunters' field operations, they were mostly ex-military or at the very least, trained **very** well, and their numbers reached 5,000 assigned all over he world, with some even in space. To keep up with the physically superior Reploid Mavericks, they were fielded with refurbished power armor, mostly spare mechaniloid parts that were fit for human use. Eventually, they became popular enough that corporations far and wide began begging for them to advertise their products, which lead to the development of the Grapearl, named after the team. The powered armor known as the Grapearls essentially allowed humans to go toe-to-toe with most Mavericks and also permitted the wearers to carry several additional combat options such as: guns, swords, cannons, shields, etc...this is not counting the built in weapons systems and barrier already found in the suit permitting that the pilots manage the limited energy stores properly.__  
_

_*Door Opens*  
_

_The Grapearl squad were socializing over lunch, the men were noisily making jokes at each others' expense and getting drunk, the women were engaging in rather stereotypical gossip and the staff were holding back the urge to setting the room's self-destruct sequence._

_Zero was gonna fit in fine here._

"Hey, isn't dat..." a member with spiky blonde hair halted the poisoning of his liver.

"Yeah, that's..." a giant of a man beside a beautiful blonde trailed off.

"The S-Class Hunter...Zero," a man with an overly exaggerated and shiny forehead finished for his dumbstruck companions.

"What? Am I making people uncomfortable?" Zero looked at all of them, _staring _at him.

"Not at all," a jovial man with dark blue hair stood up to greet the surprise guest.

"So you running this operation?" Zero asked the man with an equally big smile.

"Just out in the field," the man shook the veteran Hunter's white-gloved hand, "Rossiu usually deals with the more managerial type things."

"..." the forehead man waved in affirmation.

"Well, I'm Zero," the swordsman chuckled.

"I would've never guessed," the commander returned the laughter, "name's Simon."

"So out of curiosity, how does a Grapearl handle?" the pilot in Zero asked aloud.

"Well, its kinda like a Ride Armor, only smaller and cramped," Simon explained, "though one of my perks as Commander is to trick mine out with what would normally be considered as a valid reason to kick me out."

_Zero felt like he was gonna like hanging around with this crew._

"Commander Zero," an orange-haired boy, no older than 20 approached the Hunter, "could you tell us how you dealt with Sigma in his Moon base?"

"Gimmy," a pink-haired girl of similar age smacked the boy on the back of his head.

"Ow, what's the idea Dari?" Gimmy complained.

"That's not how we address a commanding officer," the girl scolded, "you have to forgive him, my brother can be an idiot sometimes."

"It's fine, I'd actually be happy to tell you if you wanna listen," the swordsman appreciated the respect he received.

_Suddenly, all the members of the Grapearl Squad came to a deep silence and gazed at the Reploid._

__"Did I do something wrong?" Zero looked to Simon.

"Well, most of us lost our homes to Sigma's attacks," the commander said, "and we at Team Dai-Gurren look at every opportunity to enjoy hearing about how his plans failed."

"Team Dai-Gurren?" the S-Class Hunter gave a confused look.

"We're known collectively as the Grapearl Squad, but this bunch of bozos here at Hunter HQ are Team Dai-Gurren," Simon explained.

"I see," Zero nodded before beginning to narrate the events of the last battle against Sigma.

-_An Hour Later at the Hangar-_

__"You've got a wild bunch on your hands," Zero felt sorry for the human commander.

"Well, their family to me so what can I do about it?" Simon laughed at the comment.

"Simon!" a girl with sky blue hair waved from afar.

"Nia! I'll see you with the others after patrol okay!?" the man looked much brighter when he spoke to the woman.

_Zero knew that look. It was the look he had whenever he was with Iris._

__"Nice girl," Zero patted his new friend on the back.

"She's the best," the man gave a smile that covered his whole face.

"Take care of her, few people have what you have," the swordsman said sternly, "the rest are jealous."

"Haha, who would've thought that the 'Legendary' S-Class Hunter would be so sentimental," Simon cracked a joke.

"Comes with age I suppose," Zero replied before the two came to a halt.

_In front of the two was something that Zero could only describe as a samurai with an oni for a chest...which wore sunglasses._

__"This is my ride," Simon placed a hand on the Armor's shoulder plate.

"This is a Grapearl? Doesn't look like the stuff I see on the promotional vids," the Hunter was confused at how different it looked compared to the standard units.

"This is the prototype, which ate thru 90% of the Projects budget like a drill piercing the earth's thick crust," the man made an unusual reference.

"This, is Gurren Lagann!"

_-End-_

_AN: So I was thinking about how there were supposedly human Hunters, and I didn't wanna make any OCs while having characters that could go toe-to-toe with the usual baddies and even Zero, Axl, and X if the need should arise...  
_

_So you guys know who I brought in XD.  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_-Zero's Dilemma-_

_-The Spiral Man-  
_

_Upon closer inspection, the Gurren Lagann, or GL for short, actually held many similarities to the frame and design of the Grapearls, only more elaborate and well-defined...  
_

"It has sunglasses," Zero said flatly, "on its chest."

"Yeah," Simon replied with unexpected pride, "beam coated and it functions like a sword."

"Seriously?" the S-Class Hunter held his mouth agape, "Why?"

"It actually did start as an actual pair of swords," the man's face suddenly became serious, "too cumbersome to drag around so the last commander had them forged into that."

"You weren't the first commander?" the swordsman raised an eyebrow.

"No, that was my bro," Simon took out a photo from his wallet, "he died a few years ago in an isolated incident before the whole Red Alert thing."

"..." Zero felt like he raised an uncomfortable topic with the human.

"He used to say a lot of crazy things back then," the man chuckled lightly, "like **believe in me who believes in you.**"

"That's an odd saying even for a proverb," the blonde Hunter crossed his arms as he inspected the human-use Armor before him.

"And oddly, it's the one that made most sense to any of us," Simon began rubbing his chin, "but crazy is what you need when you're going against the odds."

"I can agree to that," Zero replied, recalling his first battle with Sigma.

"How about we duel?" the blue-haired man suggested.

"What?" the blonde said, flabbergasted.

"It solves our border and it should help raise morale between the Hunters and Grapearls, right?" Simon explained, "We'll be using nonlethal settings of course."

_Zero had never been one for morale or inspirational speeches and the psychological aspect of managing a unit, but he always enjoyed a good fight._

"Let's do it!" the swordsman raised a fist in agreement.

_-3 Days Later-_

_Eventually, word began to spread throughout Hunter Base and some were even placing bets on the fight in question._

"Hey Zero," X approached his friend, "what's this about a fight between you and the Grapearl squads commander?"

"It's just a friendly sparring match X," Zero replied as he polished parts of his partially repaired armor, "supposed to raise morale and stuff."

"You should really try taking a break every once in a while to enjoy the peace," the blue bomber sighed, "back me up here Layer."

"Good luck out there Zero," the purple-haired woman said curtly.

_X flipped over as Zero headed to the training room._

"Really Layer?" X asked, "Is this really the only way."

"X, sometimes the road to peace is paved by a bunch of people, human and reploid, watching two guys beating each other up," the Navigator answered matter-of-factly.

_X sighed._

_"I guess there's more to an understanding than peace alone," the blue Hunter thought.  
_

_-Training Room-  
_

_A lot of people have gathered, the room was never meant to be an Arena or Colosseum, some surveillance cameras were even broadcasting to outposts around the world and some in space. The match of a century.  
_

_**-Zero-**  
_

_"I'll go easy on him," the swordsman planned, "look at his moves and weapons then wing it from there."_

_The veteran Hunter equipped the Kaiser Knuckles and assumed his combat stance  
_

"Bring it on Simon!" Zero taunted with a smirk.

"Knock him out Zero!" the purple-haired Navigator said in an Out of Character moment, bringing momentary silence, but followed by cheers from the crew.

**_-Simon-_**

_"I'm going against huge odds here, but Bro would have found a way and I could too!" Simon drew the Gurren Lagann's shades and held it with both hands._

"Let's do this Zero!" the leader of Team Dai-Gurren yelled.

"You can do it Simon," the girl with the sky blue hair cheered on, supported by the human side of the crowd.

_**-Pre-Battle-**_

_Lifesaver was elected to be the referee of the match by Signas himself so both sides didn't argue. The medical reploid made his way between the two combatants.  
_

"Lifesaver?" Zero hesitated, "I haven't seen you around."

"Well that's what you get when we were flooded with injured until just recently," the Reploid replied, "Now both of you, no holds barred, but keep the blood and oil to a minimum, we just cleaned the floor."

"Got it," both fighters said swiftly.

_While Lifesaver was refereeing, the duty of pointlessly long narration went to X and a woman named Yoko._

"Morning," X extended a hand, "you're the sniper I heard about."

"Gee, not every day a living legend takes notice," the fiery-haired woman returned the gesture.

_**-Commence Battle-**_

"Welcome everyone," X reported politely.

"X and Yoko here to bring the blow-by-blow details of the match of the century," the sniper said in a grandiose manner.

"In the red corner, we have the 'Spiral Warrior' Simon in the Gurren Lagann!" Yoko introduced her commander.

"And in the..._redder _corner, we have the 'Crimson Devastation' Zero!" the blue bomber said of his friend.

_DING!_

"And that's the bell people, looks like the combatants are eyeing each other out for openings," Yoko reported.

"Yes, I've seen Zero do this before, Yoko, he gauges an opponents offense before proceeding with his own," X added.

_Zero made the first move, dashing towards the Gurren Lagann._

"It looks like Zero's taking the initiative!" the redhead said, startled.

_In response, Simon raised the blade and swiped at Zero's location._

"But look!" the 17th unit commander stood up while he clutched the mic.

_Zero jumped away from the slash and circled Simon._

"He's baiting him out!" Yoko realized.

_"Dammit," Simon thought to himself, "can't believe I fell for that."_

_"Keep your head in the game kid," Zero scolded the commander right before releasing a right hook at the Gurren Lagann.  
_

_"Simon," Nia whispered from the sidelines.  
_

"We have first contact!" X yelled before placing a hand at the mic and turning to Yoko, "Am I doing this right?"

"You're doing fine commander," Yoko smiled.

_Suddenly, Simon threw his sword at Zero and began charging head on._

_"This is a fight I can enjoy," the blonde drew out his Saber and tried to meet the bluenette head-on.  
_

_...Until something collided with the back of his torso and caused him to flinch.  
_

_"Oh no, Zero," Layer held her hands close to her mouth.  
_

"It seems that Zero was unaware that the Gurren Lagann's blade doubled as a functional boomerang!" the redhead stated.

"And Zero's been caught in a well placed trap, Simon is pressing the advantage," X pointed out.

_"Hope you're ready for this one Zero," Simon pulled his right arm back and balled his hand into a fist, "Skuuulll..."_

_Zero quickly switched to the Bashou Fans for an emergency defense.  
_

_"...Breakeeerrr!" and the Gurren Lagann's arm was extended forward._

"And the Gurren Lagann's fist missed at point blank ra-" X was cut off by a loud noise.

_The side of the Armor's wrist suddenly produced a massive energy drill that blew Zero away by a few feet, causing impact that raised a measurable amount of smoke._

_"You're good," the veteran admitted.  
_

"Surprise attack from Simon's end, but Zero's defenses have minimized the damage," the redhead pointed at the fans' energy field.

_The smoke cleared, only to reveal that no one was there._

_"Gotcha," Zero's fist made contact with the second face of the mecha, causing a bolt of lightning to appear.  
_

_"Woah, my systems are being fried," the bluenette began to sweat.  
_

"Zero uses a move right from the last conflict with Sigma," X elaborates.

_"Not over yet!" the blonde swordsman quickly switched the knuckles out for the Titan Hammer for a single devastating blow._

_CRAACK!  
_

_The right pauldron of the Gurren Lagann was visibly damaged.  
_

_"Hmph," Simon smirked from within, "Gurren Lagann Kiiick!"  
_

_The mini-mecha quickly attempted a sweep kick...on fire!_

"Simon counters with a sweeping attack of flame, but is it enough?" Yoko points a question to everyone's minds.

_"And I jump," Zero taunts the human._

_"Good," Simon lunges forward and narrowly misses Zero, "Finishing Move!"  
_

__"Looks like Team Dai-Gurren's commander is looking to end this quickly," the redhead points at the Gurren Lagann's silhouette.

_Zero draws out the Sigma Blade._

__"Zero's getting serious too, he only draws that sword out when he deems an opponent worthy of its power," X says with worry.

_"Ougi," the red swordsman raises his blade in a ceremonial style._

_"Giga Drill..." the Gurren Lagann comes flying back with an even larger drill.  
_

_"Tsubame Gaeshi!" Zero makes three quick slashes in the direction of the incoming foe.  
_

_"Breaaaaakkk!" Simon zooms straight thru Zero and lands just feet away.  
_

__"Both fighters are standing perfectly still," Yoko expresses her worry.

"Is this a tie?" X wonders aloud.

_And Zero's sword arm comes flying off and the S-Class Hunter gasps for breath._

__"It looks like the winner is Si-" the redhead was cutoff by the following event.

_The Gurren Lagann's shades were split in half, followed by the sound of the helmet opening up._

_"Guys?" Simon asks for his crew, sweat drenching his skin, "He disabled the Gurren Lagann."  
_

_Zero smiles.  
_

_**-Zero-**  
_

_****"I still got it," the Hunter relaxes.  
_

_**-Battle Concluded-**  
_

_****_"It looks like we have a tie folks," X and Yoko said together.

**_-Audience-_**

**__**"Dayaka, I bet a month's salary on Simon," Kittan complained in defeat.

"Awww," Palette sighed, "looks like that vacation has to be in the city this year."

_End._


End file.
